Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1887-09-24

The fact is, the people who are
urging this useless scheme are SIM
ply erecting another condition upon
which wages and even employment
will hinge. They are building upon
the eyerlastingly false notion that the
companies are 0Jliged to provide them
with work and wages. This, as lndi-
Gated, is not the case, and all concern
ed know it, Then what is in the way
Of discharging every man and re-em-
ploying him on the condition that he
take his pay monthly as usual? ?
But the RericW comes at the JOUR-
NAL thus:
Could it the JoURNAL) oppose the payment
Of wages in advance, and yet keep at the top
of its columns the fullowing-thc FRosTBUEG
JoURNAL-J. B. oder, editor and proprietor
81 so per annum-W dd"nece5 Now, we
would like to know how the editor of the
Journal can say that miner should work
a month before he gets his pay, and yet he
himself says to his subscribers want years
wages i'll advance before do any work for
you.
Like the coming semi monthly pay
law, and the eventual ulfimGtUm of
labor, those words, "iN 0dtancp," are
legend, a tradition. For long
while we respected and enforced it;
then grew lax and one occasion after
another We waived our rights under
it until those who owe pay when they
please. Thousands Of dollars have
never been paid AT all, and those dol
lars are principally held by the
crowd Of gentlemen who are clamor-
ing so virtuously for the semi-month-
Iy pay law as stepping stone to that
grandesto Of all absurd consummations
-l1ay IN adronce.
No, dear RgricW, those words are
not portentous us they appear. In
fact, they boast magnificcnce as
meaningless us the serried roll
of inyincibly defunct dollars set OPP
pOsite the names Of men who live all
the way between Mt, Savage and
NeSternport-nen, too, whom we
served with a zeal worthy Ola better
people and especially Il better cause.
L. A. 7G1, located at Barton, takes
exception to the JOURNALS answer
to the question concerning the
"Stolen Ventilation Bill" and grows
severe enough to impeach our hu-
manity. This l.. A. contends that a
single provision Of the bill justified
its passage-that which protects the
miners from noXious gases, etc, and
instances the following:
Miners in Potomac and Jackson mine last
week worliedin air that J. B. Oder would not
breathe for five dollars per day, without
forcing him to perform any labor.
What kind Of miners are these ANY,
how: Is work so sweet and slavery
so dear that they purchase the
privileges of labor ia bad air at cost
so frightfuI: If not, why don't they
quit work :? And what good would
Il law do such men-a law that, to be
effective, must at last depend wholly
on their 0Icn testimony? II these
miners be men they should besides
prosecute L. A. 767 Cor libel and lay
their damages at the highest possible
notch.
What is the matter with the
miners Of Potomac and jackson stop
ping work without such law !?
Where Is the higher law of self-pro-
lection? ''lose their employment,
eh - Well, if asthma and death are
the penalties OF work, no worse re.
suits can follow idleness, at least
until the companies own interest
will force them to make their mines
habitabIe for work.
We cannot reply to l.. A. IN crtcns0,
but its closing injunction requires a
remark:
As this article is official We request all l..
AS at their next meeting to take action on it.
If this is designed to intimldate
the Journal it will fail. We have
been there before and got back safe
ly. 1t makes not the slightest differ
ence what action ''ali l.. AS" take.
the JOURNAL will continue to preach
pure gospel, especially when ''the
heathen rage and imagine vain
things" And whenever 1t is driven
from Its utterly independent course
on any or all subjects it will be good
time for the pigs to take wings and
fly away.
A LOCAL bit Of news elsewhere
indicates the cost Of picnlc and foot
race last SATURDAY. Sinoa thar ;t,r,